Assumed Identity: A Chase Haig Mission, #1

By Blaze Ward

When a man named Chace Haig dies or retires—and they almost never retire—the next one steps up to replace him, as close a copy as diet, training, and plastic surgery can make him.

 

His first mission? Seduce the woman he fell in love with and lost in college, to prove she cannot recognize him. Then do the same with a Russian gangster in London.

 

Because when you have a need, Chace Haig might know a guy. And he'll introduce you.

 

For a price.

 

Assumed Identity, the first of a new kind of spy adventure. So deep undercover that even he can no longer remember who he used to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Knotted Road Press
• Release date: Aug 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215574485

Blaze Ward

Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe (Jessica Keller, The Science Officer,  The Story Road, etc.) as well as several other science fiction universes, such as Star Dragon, the Dominion, and more. He also writes odd bits of high fantasy with swords and orcs. In addition, he is the Editor and Publisher of Boundary Shock Quarterly Magazine. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, Goodreads, and other places. Blaze's works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors. His newsletter comes out regularly, and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions—even ones about his books!

Book preview

Assumed Identity

ASSUMED IDENTITY

A CHACE HAIG MISSION

BLAZE WARD

KNOTTED ROAD PRESS

CONTENTS

Assumed Identity

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About the Author

Also by Blaze Ward

About Knotted Road Press

ASSUMED IDENTITY

A CHACE HAIG MISSION

Chace stared at the face in the mirror, trying to remember what he’d looked like before. Every morning, it faded further and further from memory. Probably just as well.

He nodded, staring at the semi-stranger nodding back. It had been the opportunity of a lifetime, to replace one of the most stories secret agents ever in the history of the Institute.

The cost had been his face. His old life. Maybe his soul.

Looking in the mirror in the morning, Chace often had that moment where he had to wonder if it was all worth it. Today was one of those days.

You will no longer be Zachary Yoxall, she had told him. From now on, you are Chace Haig. Your mission tomorrow will be to prove to yourself that you have truly become someone else.

A guy named Chace Haig. Legend in US Law Enforcement and Intelligence communities, going back decades, however shadowy. Chace was the fifth replacement for the original, all of them having undergone extensive training to assume that identity.

And the plastic surgery. Hair already the right color and texture, now styled in a completely different manner, because the original had done it that way in the late 60s. Dark brown, slicked back with some old oily product and with a comma down over his right eyebrow.

Already tall and lean in build, Chace had spent the last two years under a new diet regimen, until he’d actually developed a taste for some of the weird things that his predecessor had learned to eat in Japan, Okinawa, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Weird things.

Fashion a bit off, but the Institute had made sure that the wardrobe stayed stylish and updated. Chace had never owned a custom, bespoke suit made in Hong Kong. Until now. And some of them he had inherited had been perfect fits.

So much was he a perfect replacement for the man. All the men.

Chace leaned back and adjusted his tie. The original had worn his college fraternity colors in the old days, before they’d moved him on to things that couldn’t identify him. Signatures, be they emotional, physical, or sartorial.

Today, he wore a simple, medium blue paisley tie that went well with a white shirt and slate-gray pinstripes.

You will walk into that old life you left behind, but it will be Chace Haig, she had explained. Zachary Yoxall will not be present. Will not have those memories. When you are successful there, you will be ready.

Was he ready?

Chace checked his expensive new watch, worth more than he’d earned last year, and nodded one last time to the stranger in the mirror.

He had a lunch date with destiny.

Chace Haig didn’t actually exist, since he